


Skeletale

by JustAFellowUser



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Bad Puns, Eventual Skelefrisk, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Non-Binary Frisk, Pacifist Frisk, Protective Papyrus, Protective Sans, Sans can't people, Selectively Mute Frisk, but he tries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-06-09 07:02:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6894769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAFellowUser/pseuds/JustAFellowUser
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Like most monsters in the Underground, Sans didn't really know much about humans, but he somehow knew that there was no other human being in the world like hi...er... the kid. After all, not many people can brag about balancing twenty-nine hot dogs on their head, and even fewer (if any) could say they can reset time again and again and again and again and...</p>
<p>Ok, the time loop thing is an obvious problem, but it's nothing he can't fix.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

As he left the golden hallway with the kid trailing behind, Sans couldn’t help but feel worried about how easy it was to talk Frisk into coming with him. He knew he should be relieved since ‘I have something cool to show you’ was all the convincing Frisk needed to follow him, but the fact something that vague was all he had to say to get them to agree with no questions asked bothered him. Especially since the last time he had seen them, he may or may not have said something that ended with Frisk bawling their eyes out as he hastily whispered apologies and Papyrus (after a quick phone call) came rushing to the kid’s aid.

_ ‘is this normal for kids?’  _ Sans wondered  _ ‘do human kids just wander off with guys who said they would’ve killed them if they didn’t promise little old ladies?’ _

Somehow Sans doubted it. Although Frisk was the only human he ever met, something told him that his little time anomaly didn’t act how humans normally did.

_ ‘frisk is more like a monster than a human.’  _ Sans mused, squeezing Frisk’s hand.

In record timing, they appeared in Snowdin. 

Noticing the kid shudder from the abrupt change in temperature, Sans absentmindedly shrugged off his jacket and playfully plopped it on top of their head.

Frisk stiffened at the sudden weight on their head before they realized what it was.

With a little giggle that made Sans’ smile soften, Frisk yanked off the jacket and gave the skeleton a playful scowl. 

Sans gave them a wink. 

“Don’t want ya’ to freeze on an  **ice** day like this.” Sans ruffled the kid’s hair. Frisk giggled and batted his hand away before signing ‘thank you’.

“ **snow** problemo, kiddo.” Sans easily replied, chuckling at Frisk’s  _ ‘you’re pushing it’  _ groan. He tried to ignore the nervous queasy feeling in his nonexistent stomach as they walked closer to his house.

_ this is it.  _ Despite the cold weather, Sans felt himself break out in sweat. Frisk made a face at the sweat beading on the skeleton’s skull, but thankfully didn’t comment.

When they reached the house, Frisk attempted to enter through the door but Sans pulled them back.

“we’re going in through the other door.” was all Sans said, not even giving the kid a sideways glance as he led them to the back of the house. He felt Frisk tug and wiggle their hand, probably wanting to say something, but the skeleton kept the little palm trapped in his grip.

Now would be the worst time for the kid to start asking questions. 

Sans, with Frisk in tow, squeezed in through the narrow passage between the house and cold solid rock. Immediately after they walked into the cramped space the building that once had a warm and welcoming demeanor, now loomed over them. Although artificial light from the caverns’ crystals were barely visible in the small tunnel, Sans could still see the metal door gleam in the faint light. Fishing out his silver key, Sans released a shaky breath and unlocked the door.

Sans entered the room, but felt another tug. He turned to see Frisk standing the outside the doorway. The skeleton tried to be patient with the kid and gently pulled their arm, but the kid remained where they were as they stared hesitantly in the dark room.

“com’on kiddo,” Sans said with a smile that he hoped looked reassuring. “don’t get cold feet on me now. don’t you want to see what i have to show you?”

Frisk bit the thumbnail of their free hand and gave a half-hearted nod. Sans forced his smile to grow wider. 

“ok then, come in.” Frisk continued chewing on their nail.

Sans feigned a hurt look. “wow, buddy, i thought you trusted me.”

It was a dirty trick and Sans knew it, but he couldn’t let the kid back down now.

After hearing Sans question their faith in him, Frisk instantly made a face that he both loved and hated. There was something about that expression, maybe it was the ‘serious’ way their eyebrows furrowed or the way they pouted their bottom lip. Whatever the reason was, he couldn’t help but be reminded of when Papyrus was a babybones. However, although the expression had its charm, Sans usually dreaded seeing that look since it usually meant Frisk was going to something stupid that literally got them killed again.

Hopefully this was not one of those moments.

With that facial expression that could be described as DETERMINATION, the kid took their nail out of their mouth, successfully tugged their hand free from Sans’ grip, and marched into the dark room.

“i knew you could do it.” Sans praised, shoulders slumping in relief. When Frisk’s back was turned, he locked the door and turned on the lights.

The workshop wasn’t anything special. It was just a plain little room with a simple lavender tiled floor and dark turquoise wall. The only things that actually stood out was the blueprint rolled up and set aside on the built in dresser, and the machine that was covered by the tarp. Yet, despite the plainness of the room, the kid still scanned the entire room, their eyes taking in every little detail. 

_ ‘So cool!’  _ Frisk eagerly signed, much to Sans’ surprise. Out of all the things to describe the workshop, ‘cool’ was not what he had in mind. _ ‘Is this your secret clubhouse?’  _

“i guess you could say that,” Sans replied with a short chuckle. “until now, pap and i were the only ones who knew about this place. but it’s more of a mini lab than a clubhou-.... uh…. why are you looking at me like that, kiddo?”

The kid was gaped at him, their wide eyes (well… as wide as squinting eyes could be) were full of surprise.

_ ‘You’re a scientist?! Are you a royal scientist? Do you work with Alphys?’  _ Frisk questioned before adding with a mischievous grin.  _ ‘Does this mean I have to call you ‘Doctor Sans’ now?’ _

Sans somehow managed to make the smiling appearance on his face look disgusted at the formal title. The expression on the skeleton’s face earned a snicker from the kid.

“i  used to be a scientist.” Sans corrected. “but not anymore, too much work, ya’ know? so none of that ‘doctor sans’ stuff, ok? i’m just sans, sans the skeleton.”

_ ‘If you’re not a scientist anymore, then why do you have a lab in your house.’  _ the kid asked.

Sans stiffened before shrugging as casually as he could.

“no reason, just found something interesting to do research on. i occasionally come down here to conduct some experiments or save my notes and pictures before i lose them. 

Frisk’s interest peaked at the mention of pictures.

_ ‘Can I see?’  _ Frisk asked. 

Sans hesitated, but, figuring it might help him explain what he was going to do, Sans opened the nearby drawer and handed the kid the pictures.

The moment the kid looked at the pictures, Frisk frowned deeply, not that Sans could blame them. He would’ve been confused too if someone showed him a bunch of pictures that weren’t taken in this timeline.

“hey kid? have you ever had déja vu before?” Sans asked noticing that the kid’s posture suddenly became rigid. “ya know, that strange feeling you’d get when you feel like you experienced something that never happened before.”

The kid didn’t answer, they just continued flipping through the pictures. 

“maybe you don’t know,” Sans pretended to guess. “i’m not sure if humans get it and if they do, how often it happens, but it’s been happens to me all the time. there’s times when i’m selling someone a ‘dog, then i suddenly being waken up by paps to recalibrate the same puzzles we did that morning. it would happen over and over again so many times, i thought i was losing my mind ‘til recently. turns out, after asking around, i’m not the only person who get’s that feeling around here. there are times when monsters think they remember a person say something before they even opened their mouth, or they do something that they know they haven’t done before, but feel like they have.”

Sans paused and gave the kid a wink. “pretty weird, right kiddo?”

Other than the slight trembling in their hands, Frisk gave no outward appearance that they were even listening to the one-sided conservation. They just continued staring blankly at the picture of them and Papyrus smashing tomatoes together.

“normally, i’d be too lazy to investigate why this is happening and i’d wave it off as one giant coincidence. but after the- what? eighth or tenth time i got woken up by paps to recalibrate puzzles, i decided to find out what or  **who** is causing all these time loops and it didn’t take long for me to figure it out.”

The kid's whole body trembled.

“you didn’t really do a great job covering your tracks, kiddo. the big giveaways had to be was you shook my hand without me telling you to turn around and how quickly it took for you to solve paps’ puzzles.”

Putting his hands in his pockets, Sans closed his eyes.

“even though i knew it was you, that still didn’t answer the question i was looking for: why. i didn’t understand why would anyone reset time as frequently as you do. i would spend hours in this lab looking over my notes and brainstorming reasons. one reason i thought of was because you got bored easily, but it can’t be that. you’ve been doing the same thing that you’ve been doing in every timeline. the other reason i thought of,”

Sans opened his eyes, revealing gaping black holes. Frisk turned into two shades paler. Dropping the pictures, the kid hugged themself and took a step back.

“is that you’re just using us as toys in some sort of sick game.”

Sans faltered when the kid whimpered and furiously shook their head. They squeezed their eyes tight and tried to sign something, but their hands were shaking too much to form words.

“hey, hey, it’s ok, kid.  **tibia** honest, i knew that couldn’t be true the moment i got to know you. nobody would be so determined to get to the surface but want to reset and start at the beginning. in fact, i seen timelines where you look just as sick of this as i am. that’s when i realized you’re just as much of a victim as everyone else down here. imma right?” 

Frisk was chewing on their fingernails as they silently shook their head and clumsily signed.  _ ‘My fault.’  _

Sans stiffened. “what do you mean it’s your fault? are you doing this on purpose?”

The skeleton relaxed when Frisk, loudly sniffling, hastily shook their head. “ok then, if you don’t reset on purpose then it wasn’t your fault. you’re just kid, you can’t even work at a job yet, i highly doubt you can even stop yourself from resetting time.” As Sans chatted, he backtracked to the drawer closest to the wall. “but it’s ok-”

_ ‘No! You don’t understand!’’  _ Frisk interrupted, tears streamed down their face.  _ ‘It  _ _ is _ _ my fault! If I had been more careful. If I hadn’t died so many times, the time loops would’ve never happened! Sorry! Sorry! So sorry! Sor-’’ _

“wait a minute,” Sans said, his smile strangely resembled a pained grimace. His clammy hand circled around the object in the drawer. “every time you f-fell down…. you accidentally reset time…?”

Frisk’s hand stopped in the middle of another apology. Their eyes widened in panic.

_ ‘U din’t kow... ‘  _ Frisk signed, too distraught to properly ‘say’ the words. They gnawed their nails at a faster pace.

“of course i didn’t know!” Sans snapped. The kid winced and tried to make themself smaller. Not wanting to scare the kid anymore, with his free hand, he clutched his skull and took a deep breath. He ducked his head so Frisk couldn’t see his eye turning blue. Just the thought of the same kid trembling in front of him had died  _ repeatedly  _ and  _ remembered  _ each painful death made him want to throw up.

“kid... how…. how are you able to look at any of us in the eye...” Sans managed to say, his voice full of disbelief. “why do you keep trying to get to the castle when you know you could die at any minute? why didn’t you stay with the old lady?” Sans’ head snapped up and he clutched his skull harder as he recalled timelines that reset before Frisk left the Ruins. “ _ oh sh-  _ the old lady killed you too, didn’t she?!”

_ ‘It was an accident!’  _ Frisk hurriedly assured him.

“ _ accident?! _ how can you kill a  _ child _ by  _ accident?! _ ” Sans exclaimed. Who the hell had he been talking to all this time? Why would she even make him promise to keep the kid safe if she was going to kill them?! “why did you even stay down here, buddy? couldn’t you have tried climbing out the way you came in or better yet, why didn’t you just stay with me and paps? you still could if you wanted to. we can even do something that would make you stop resetting altoge-”

_ ‘No, I need to talk to Asgore.’ _

Sans shoulders slumped.

“why?” the skeleton asked, wiping the sweat off with his sleeve. “what could possibly be at the surface that you’re willing to die  _ multiple  _ times, when you have everything you need here?”

Frisk hesitated as they were about to answer before chewing on their finger.

“thought so.” the skeleton huffed, allowing his eye to glow brighter. “i didn’t want to do this, kiddo. i was hoping i could talk you into doing this without having to force you. but if you think i’m just going to let you get yourself killed again….  **y o u ‘ r e  g o i n g  t o  h a v e  a  b a d  t i m e** .”

Before Frisk could ask what he meant, blue magic materialized around them, holding the kid firmly in place. 

The kid immediately started panicking and struggled to get out of the skeleton’s hold.

“ _ shhh, _ it’s okay buddy,” Sans assured, cautiously walking towards them with a syringe filled with blue liquid in his hand.

The whimpering child struggled more and more as Sans came closer.

“you’ll just feel a small pinch. after that, you’ll never have to worry about falling down again.” he spoke slowly as if trying to calm a spooked animal. “i promise, and you know how much i hate making promises.”

Frisk whined and made another feeble attempt to escape before Sans injected them with the bright blue liquid.

Sans’ posture became considerably more relaxed as he gently removed the needle out of their arm.

The worst is finally over.

“that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Sans said, trying to sound upbeat, his magic finally letting go of the kid.

He felt his soul brake in two when Frisk fell into his waiting arms and began sobbing.

“ _ Whhhaaayy _ ?” Frisk managed to choke out. Their voice sounded scratchy and soft, but Sans could still hear the betrayal in their voice loud and clear.

“because i care about you, kiddo.” Sans placed a skelekiss on the kid’s forehead as they drifted out of consciousness.

Hugging their tiny body close, Sans watched Frisk’s skin and muscles slowly deteriorate into dust. For the first time, he couldn’t help but look forward to a new future with his brother and a newest addition to the family. 


	2. Chapter 2

As they escaped unconsciousness, Frisk couldn’t help but have an overwhelming feeling of tiredness that easily clouded their already foggy mind.

The only thing that stopped them from falling back to sleep on the lumpy yet soft surface under them, was the gentle rubbing on one of their hands and a very persistent voice telling them that they needed to get up.

Forcing their heavy eyelids to sluggishly flutter open, Frisk waited patiently for their vision to become more focused as colored blobs swam around the room.

Once their eyesight finally became more clearer, they groggily noted they were in Papyrus’ room and curled up in his bed.

 _When did I fall asleep here?_ Frisk thought in their daze. They tried to remember what happened the last time they were awake, but their mind drew a blank.

“ _Paaap’ssss sspageti?_ ” Frisk found themself saying as they tried to think of what could’ve happened.

They heard a distant chuckle and turned their head toward it.

 _When did Sans get here?_ Frisk didn't really care about that question.They felt their grin widen _(when had they started smiling?)_ in relief that Sans was with them.

 _Maybe he can tell me how much glamburgers I ate to make me pass out._ Frisk briefly thought.

“hey kiddo,” Sans said with his usual smile. “you had me worried for a minute there. i was **a-fraid-o** the possibility of you not waking up.”

Frisk heard themself giggle. Although they weren't sure why, it made Sans relax a little so they were glad they did it for whatever reason.

They took their hand out of his to reply back, when they saw something that had their mind crashing back to reality.

Their hand was no longer the same pudgy little one they were used to seeing throughout their life. The hand had completely lost all of it’s skin and muscle, leaving behind nothing but the bones.

Frisk felt a scream bubbling up inside them but they couldn't let it out. Their face twitched as it tried to form some facial expression appropriate to the situation, but they couldn't stop grinning _(Grinning? Why can’t they stop? This isn't funny!)_ They looked to their other hand and was horrified to see that their right hand was skeletal as well.

It was at this point that Frisk noticed there was a loud rattling sound in the room. Panting, they looked wildly around the room for the source, only to realize that the sound was coming from _their bones._ Feeling their insides churn, Frisk covered their ear less skull with their hands.

“-iddo, kiddo?” Sans said, resting his hand on Frisk’s shoulder.

The moment Sans touched them, their head snapped up to look at him.

Seeing Sans’ concerned face hit them like a pile of rocks as they suddenly remembered what happened.

They threw themself back against the headboard and away from Sans’ reach.

 _‘Stay away!’_ Frisk told him, hands quivering as they felt tears well in their eye sockets.

“buddy,” Sans looked hurt by Frisk’s reaction. “wh-”

 _‘You made me a monster!’_ Frisk scowled.

“a babybones,” the skeleton clarified. “you’re safe, kiddo. the other monsters won’t kill ya’ for your soul anymore now that you’re one of us.”

 _‘What about my determination?’_ Frisk asked. Maybe if they still had it, they could force themself to reset and be human again.

“it’s gone.” Sans told them. Frisk stiffened. “i added enough boss monster magic in the cure to turn your soul into a monster’s.”

Grin twitching, Frisk slumped against the headboard. They placed their hand over their rib cage as they sorted their thoughts.

 _‘How do I turn back into a human?’_ Frisk finally asked.

Sans blinked at the question.

“turn back?” Sans repeated, chuckling in disbelief. “not possible, kid.”

Blinking back tears, Frisk clenched their teeth and glared at him.

 _‘Change me back!’_ Frisk demanded.

Sans stopped laughing.

“you couldn't be human again even if i wanted you to,” Sans told them. “the effects of the cure are permanent.”

 _‘There has to be_ **_some_ ** _way,’_ Frisk pressed. _‘Can’t you make something that would at least give me determination again?’_

Sans didn't say anything at first. He just looked over Frisk’s head as if he was deep in thought.

“.... i could….” he slowly admitted, putting his hands in his pockets. Before Frisk could plead for him to do it, he added. “but i won’t.”

Frisk glared at him. Resisting the urge to strangle him, they took five deep breaths and decided to be civil.

 _‘We can do this as a compromise,’_ Frisk bargained. _‘I’ll accept being a monster if you give me my determination back.’_

Sans gave them an amused smile.

“nice try kiddo, but no deal.” he said without a second thought. “your body isn’t capable of handling determination like it used to. who knows what would happen to you if you were exposed to it. besides, determination is the whole reason we had those stupid resets in the first place. the last thing i want is for ya’ to be anywhere near that stuff.”

Feeling like they had no other choice, Frisk tried one more time to convince him.

 _‘Please…. I just want to be human again.’_ they pleaded. This time, they couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down their face. Why would Sans do this to them? If he really cared about them, why did he force them to do this?

Sans panicked.

“hey, hey, it’s ok kiddo! please don’t cry!” Sans hurriedly comforted. He scooted closer and pulled them into a one armed hug. Frisk hesitated but did nothing as they continued to cry. “i know things look bad now, but it’ll get better, trust me. me and paps will take good care of you and you can play with mk everyday.”

Frisk shoved themself away from Sans’ embrace.

 _‘We could’ve done those things when I was a human!’_ Frisk snapped, loudly sniffling. _‘You didn’t have to force me to be a monster.’_

They broke down crying again.

 _‘How am I supposed to break the barrier now?’_ they miserably asked him, before roughly wiping away tears.

Sans froze.

“break the barr…” Sans trailed off, slowly shaking his head. “kiddo, you honestly don’t think you could’ve broken down the barrier by yourself, do you?”

Hearing Sans doubt them filled Frisk with a new feeling. It felt a lot like determination, yet there was something different about it. It lacked that coaxing feeling that helped them continue after a reset. Instead, it made Frisk want to do whatever it took to prove Sans wrong. Frisk wasn't sure what exactly to think about this new feeling, but it helped them have courage like determination so they were more than willing to have this feeling as a temporary replacement.

Before Frisk could tell Sans anything, the two monsters suddenly jumped at the sudden sound of the front door being slammed closed.

“SSSAAANNNSSS! I HAVE RETURNED!” a cheerful voice yelled from downstairs. “IS FRISK HOME?”

 _Papyrus!_ Frisk’s grin widened as they jumped out of the bed. They staggered a bit, still not used to their new body, but they refused to let that stop them as they clumsily ran to the door. _He’ll help me! As soon as he sees what Sans did to me, he’ll help me for sure! Who needs Sans? I bet Papyrus could even take me to Alphys for help._

“kid wait!” Sans exclaimed, but they ignored him and stumbled out the door.

By the time Sans had appeared in front of the banister, Frisk was, thankfully, already down the stairs.

When Papyrus spotted them nosily coming down the stairs, he thoughtfully frowned.

“Sans?” Papyrus said, voice full of confusion as Frisk ran into his leg. “When did you become so active…. and shorter.”

“over here, paps.” Sans called, sitting down on the top step. Frisk heard him chuckle as Papyrus’ eyes bulged out of his skull. He looked back and forth between the two other skeletons.

“Frisk?” Papyrus stage whispered to them. Frisk blinked back tears. Now was not the time to act like a crybaby.

With the new feeling surging in them, they nodded.

 _‘Pappy, please take me to Al-’_ Frisk didn’t get a chance to finish when Papyrus suddenly scooped them up in his arms.

“FRISK! YOU ARE AS ADORABLE AS I WAS WHEN I WAS A BABYBONES! Well…. not really. NO ONE IS AS CUTE AS THE GREAT BABY PAPYRUS! BUT YOU ARE AN EXTREMELY CLOSE SECOND! YOU ARE SO SOFT AND FULL OF CALCIUM! YOU EVEN HAVE YOUR FONTANELLES!” Papyrus squealed.

Being the very definition of careful, Papyrus nuzzled the hole on the crown of their head. Frisk shuddered at the strange, but pleasant, sensation.

With a ‘Nyeh heh heh’, Papyrus spun around with Frisk (who was extremely confused) firmly pressed against his chest.

After spinning, Papyrus finally managed to calm himself down. He adjusted his hold on Frisk until they were sitting on his hip. Frisk’s face flushed and they kicked to get down but Papyrus merely tightened his hold as he beamed at Sans.

“I see your cure worked, brother!”

Frisk froze in mid-kick and looked up at Papyrus in horror.

“it sure did, bro.” Sans said with an easygoing smile.


	3. Chapter 3

Frisk sat stiffly on the other skeleton’s hip, their mind still reeling from Papyrus’ involvement in the situation. Not noticing Frisk was blatantly gawking at him, Papyrus continued to congratulate Sans for successfully getting rid of their determination.

“I knew you could do it, brother!” Papyrus cheered, his voice full of pride. “See what incredible things you can accomplish when you are not constantly napping or simply lazing around!”

“yup,” Sans replied, suddenly appearing in front of them. “but i think i’ll stick to being lazy if ya’ don’t mind.”

“Sans!” Papyrus scolded.

Sans smiled and casually shrugged.

“aw com’on, throw me a **bone** here, bro. i barely worked a day in my life, and all that effort left me feeling **bone tired**.”

Mouth twitching, Papyrus looked like he wanted to scream, but he restrained himself when he noticed Frisk was speaking to him.

_‘Pappy… you knew? You knew Sans would do…_ _this_ _to me?’_ Frisk asked.

Papyrus briefly looked bemused at their choice of words before proudly smiling.

“OF COURSE I KNEW, BABYBONES! THERE WAS NO POSSIBLE WAY SANS COULD HAVE KEPT SOMETHING THIS IMPORTANT FROM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! Nyeh heh heh!”

Frisk sniffled and blinked furiously in an attempt to hold back tears. Although they already knew his answer to their stupid question before he even opened his mouth, it still hurt to hear that one of their best friends would allow another best friend to do this to them.

**And to top it all off, out of all the stupid monsters down here, Papyrus is probably the only one who could’ve talked his idiot brother out of it.**

The sudden thought by the grumbling voice had made Frisk feel worse. They were too distraught stop a couple of tears from trailing down their face or even question where the voice can from in the first place.

_‘Did everyone know Sans was going to turn me into a monster?’_ Frisk scowled.

Sans winced, Papyrus looked surprised and even more confused at the sudden tears but quickly talked to them in a calming manner before they started crying.

“Er… not yet….The only ones who know about this is us. Sans thought it would be best if we kept this from everyone until after you became a monster, just in case that….” Papyrus trailed off and frowned. He and Sans exchanged glances.

_‘What?’_ Frisk pressed. _‘In case of what?’_

Papyrus silently pleaded to his brother for help.

“doesn't matter,” Sans assured them. Frisk attempted to scowl, but despite their best efforts, they still had a lopsided grin firmly planted on their face. Their face wasn’t usually very expressive, people who hardly knew them might even consider them cold or indifferent based on their outward appearance. But the fact that they couldn’t properly show how they were feeling when they wanted to, frustrated Frisk to no end.

Wanting to know what the brothers were hiding something from them **(again)** , filled Frisk with DIFFERENT DETERMINATION, but before they could demand answers, Papyrus readily agreed with Sans.

“Yes, it doesn't matter!” Papyrus gave them a strained smile as he wiped Frisk’s tears with his scarf. “What matters now is that no one will be tempted to hurt you now that you’re a babybones!” Papyrus’ smile became more genuine as he hugged them closer. “And, of course, you’ll be living with us from now on.”

“I can’t wait to tell everyone the good news!” Papyrus excitedly told them. “They will be overjoyed to hear that we don’t have to destroy you and take your soul to King Asgore.”

As if a sudden idea had occurred to him, Papyrus dramatically gasped.

“I know!” Papyrus exclaimed. “I COULD SHARE THE WONDERFUL NEWS WITH MY MANY GREAT FRIENDS ON THE UNDERNET!” Papyrus gasped again. “I COULD EVEN UPLOAD PICTURES!” Frisk could've sworn that they had seen sparkles of happiness light up in Papyrus’ eyes. “Then everyone can see your baby pictures at the same time.”

The thought of the other monsters finding out what happened to them and even seeing pictures of their new appearance made Frisk wince.

_‘I don’t want-’_ Frisk began to protest, but Sans unintentionally cut them off.

“um... you sure that’s a good idea, paps?” Sans asked, looking skeptical. “i don’t want to burst your bubble or anything, but i don’t think we should just tell everyone about the kid yet. maybe we should just…. i dunno…. wait or maybe we could tell a few people and see how they react before the whole underground knows.”

“Nonsense! This is a perfect idea!” Papyrus confidently told him. “Everyone still thinks the babybones is at King Asgore’s castle and they are no doubt worried about their wellbeing. If we wait to tell them that Babybones is alive and no longer a human, they will eventually think Babybones is… gone and start questioning why the barrier is still keeping us trapped underground. We should tell the other monsters now and begin preparing for a bad human to come.”

Sans hesitated but, seeing that there was no way to talk Papyrus out of it, he sighed.

“you’re so thoughtful, bro.” Sans replied, Papyrus beamed at the compliment.

“OF COURSE I AM!” he bragged, handing Frisk to his brother. Frisk squirmed in an effort to escape, but Sans easily held them bridal style in his arms. “IT’S IMPORTANT FOR A ROYAL GUARD TO ALWAYS THINK OF OTHERS BEFORE THEY THINK OF THEMSELVES!”

Papyrus patted Frisk on their head.

“I’m going to get my camera, I’ll be right back, babybones.” Papyrus assured them.

_Maybe it’s a good thing that Pappy’s going to tell everyone,_ Frisk uneasily thought, watching the other skeleton run up the stairs. _The last thing I want is for the others to get their hopes up and start thinking that the barrier’s gone. Besides, maybe that will make things easier searching for someone who is willing to help me._

“be careful running up those stairs, paps.” Sans warned. “i don’t trust them, i think they’re up to something.”

“THAT’S NOT EVEN A PUN!” Papyrus yelled from upstairs.

“no,” Sans agreed. Giving Frisk a wink, he added. “but it was pretty **punny**.”

Sans chuckled as Papyrus shrieked in pure rage.

After Papyrus slammed his bedroom door to look for his camera in peace, Sans and Frisk waited in silence.

“ya’ know,” Sans began, after an extended period of time. “you really made paps happy.”

Frisk pointedly ignored him and kept their eyes fixated on the carpeted floor.

Sans sighed at their silence before he placed Frisk back on their feet.

Frisk’s legs wobbled under their weight, but they were, thankfully able to stay standing.

“i can’t say i blame you for being mad at me, i’d be mad at too if i were you.” Sans admitted, breaking the silence. “you don’t have to forgive me if you don’t want to, i understand if you don’t, but i’m sorry for um… forcing you into this. i was going to try to convince ya’, but the moment you told me how the resets happened in the first place and the fact that you still were going to meet King Asgore… i just… acted like a complete **bonehead**.” With a rueful smile on his face, Sans shrugged. “i bet you probably hate me now, huh?”

Frisk winced at the thought. Although they were still furious at Sans for changing them into a monster, they couldn’t bring themself to hate him. It wasn’t like this was the worst thing that had happened to them. Besides, despite what Sans had said, this will _not_ be permanent, Frisk was going to find a way to get their determination back and become human again, eventually, no matter what.

He looked surprised when Frisk shook their head.

_‘I don’t hate you,’_ they truthfully told him. _‘I’m still mad at what you did, but I don’t hate you.’_

Sans’ smile became less forced.

“you’re a good kid, ya’ know that, buddy?” Sans patted their head. “i know things are a little weird now, but it’ll get better, trust me."

Frisk could've sworn they heard someone snort in disbelief, but they decided it must've been in their imagination. Just then, Papyrus came down the stairs with the camera proudly in his hand.

The camera wasn't anything special. It was just an old digital camera that had a few scratches and chips. Frisk guessed that, like many of the things in the underground, the camera was probably tossed into the mountain by a human.

Papyrus looked disappointed when he saw the two.

“Sans, why aren’t you holding the babybones?” Papyrus asked. “I wanted to take a picture of that.”

“a picture of me?” Sans made a face at that. “uh... i’ll pass, i think you should **stay focused** on the babybones.”

“Sans!” Papyrus shouted, glaring daggers at him. Sans not-so-innocently smiled back.

“sorry, i can’t help myself sometimes. i guess you could say, telling puns is **in my bones** ” he said casually, not looking apologetic at all.

“I swear, I will **snap** if I hear you say another pun!” Papyrus gritted his teeth.

With a chuckle, Sans attempted to go sit on the couch, but Frisk pulled on his jacket’s sleeve. 

_‘If I’m taking pictures, you’re taking some with me.’_ Frisk firmly told him. Knowing Papyrus, he was probably going to be taking over _a gazillion_ pictures of them and there was no way Frisk was going to go through those hours of boredom alone.

Wanting Sans to silently suffer with them no matter what, filled Frisk with DIFFERENT DETERMINATION.

He must’ve seen how set they were with him being apart of this, because a flicker of surprise shone in his eyes, before he was back to having a laid-back demeanor.

“sure, kiddo, if ya’ want.” Sans said nonchalantly, but he looked like he was thinking of something.

“EXCELLENT!” Papyrus squealed, already adjusting their positions. He pushed the two closer and had Sans wrap an arm around Frisk. “I already have so many ideas on what we should do!”

Frisk inwardly winced at that.

After what seem like long hours of taking many pictures (all of them done in different filters, locations, angles, and poses), the camera had suddenly dinged a warning that it was dying. Papyrus frowned at the frantic beeping.

“Ten percent already?” he muttered in disbelief, examining the digital screen. “I could’ve sworn it was fully charged when I came downstairs… Maybe I should look for a new one at the dump…?” Papyrus reluctantly turned off the camera before beaming up at Frisk. “BUT NO MATTER! MY CAMERA HAS JUST ENOUGH BATTERY LIFE TO UPLOAD MY PICTURES!”

Standing on the tip of his toes to pat their head, he added. “And, of course, after I finished, I will cook my famous homemade spaghetti to celebrate your permanent residency here, babybones!”

**Could we even eat now? Where would the spaghetti even go? I don’t really care, as long as we can’t actually** **_taste_ ** **that garbage.**

Papyrus stopped in mid-pat and gasped. “I should invite the whole town over and we can throw a party to celebrate!”

“i think you’re going a bit overboard, bro.” Sans told him, using his magic to help Frisk get down from the ridiculously tall sink.

Papyrus seemed to consider what he said.

“Hmm… You’re probably right…” he admitted. “I don’t think I have enough spaghetti for everyone, and you’re to lazy to cook anything except those weird tasting pies… Maybe some other time, when I have enough noodles and glitter. But until then, we could enjoy my spaghetti together after I post this! Nyeh heh heh!” Papyrus eagerly ran up to his room.

* * *

 

After Papyrus posted the photos on the Undernet, the rest of the day was uneventful, which, in Frisk’s humble opinion, was worse than being indirectly killed by Jerry.

… Actually… no, nothing will ever **_ever_** be worse than that, not even being changed into a monster could top that, especially since a small part of Frisk (that didn’t really feel like any part of them) still refused to let those moments go. However, this was definitely in Frisk’s top eleven horrible moments.

While the monsters had, no doubt, already knew about Frisk’s sudden change, they were doing nothing. Absolutely nothing Not walking around talking to the Snowdin residents and properly explaining the situation, not looking for ways to turn back into a human, heck, they weren’t even heading out the door. Instead, they were sitting on the kitchen table staring at their feet as Papyrus, humming a cheerful tune, was eagerly cooking a pot full of spaghetti.

And it was driving them crazy.

There were so many things that they could be doing right now but they couldn’t. _Why?_ Because Papyrus wanted them to relax after a long day and maybe take a quick nap with Sans until he was done making spaghetti, but that didn’t make any sense! Why would they need to go back to sleep if they had spent who-knows-how-long being unconscious.

Frisk had tried to explain to Papyrus that sleeping and being unconscious were basically the same thing, but he adamantly disagreed.

“It is not!” Papyrus had said, looking horrified that they would even think that. “Those two things aren’t even remotely the same! No wonder you look so exhausted, Frisk. You really should go to sleep.”  

They had repeatedly refused, despite the taller skeleton’s insistence, until finally he allowed them to stay awake but only if they watch him ‘create ART’ in the kitchen.

Frisk huffed and angrily kicked their feet in back and forth.

_Asgore could be on his way here right now with a huge army to arrest me for impersonating a monster or something, and I’m just waiting here, like a sitting duck._ Frisk wished they had lips so they could pout. They knew pouting wasn't going to solve anything, but still, it was better than stupidly grinning at their feet.

Papyrus was just pouring the charred sparkly remains of the spaghetti into three plates, when he and Frisk suddenly jumped at the sound of a fist practically beating the front door.

_ BABABANG!BABABANG!BABABANG! _

Frisk’s eye sockets widened as they heard the pounding on the front door, unsure of how to react. It had never crossed their mind that there was a possibility of the other monsters in the underground reacting badly to their transformation, they were always so nice and friendly towards them. Even in Frisk’s previous runs, they usually looked devastated when they accidentally killed Frisk, but now that they thought about it…  _ Why wouldn't the monsters get angry?  _ They had literally just lost their chance of finally getting to the surface. Frisk paled at the thought of hordes of blood-hungry monsters surrounding the house with the intent of killing them and the skeleton brothers.

Frisk leaped off the table, ready to confront whatever was banging the door (maybe they could talk the monsters out of killing them and do a victory dance on top of their dust?), but Sans beat them to it.

“who’s there?” they heard Sans yawn, he probably just woke up.

“OPEN THE DOOR!” the voice behind the door roared.

“open the door who?” Sans didn't even sound scared, in fact, he just sounded mildly amused at the situation.

“SANS! I SWEAR TO GOD, IF YOU DON’T OPEN THIS DOOR IN THE NEXT TWO SECONDS, I WILL BREAK IT DOWN AGAIN!”

The sentence wasn't even finished before, Frisk heard the soft clicks of the door being unlocked. They jumped at the sound of the door being slammed open.

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO MY BESTIE?!” Undyne screeched.  

**Author's Note:**

> Here is my first story on this website and I hope everyone liked it.


End file.
